History
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Lincoln and the Electric Cord of the Fourth of July: A Statement from Hadley Arkes, JWI Founder & Director
The Fourth of July comes this year when we are seeing a massive movement in the streets, professing to be “protests,” but seething with a rejection of the American Founding and our institutions. The fine points–if there are fine points–get lost, and what comes through is a hatred of America. We find “Juneteenth” offered now, not […] -
Commentary Roundup: JWI on Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism
Professor Adrian Vermeule of Harvard Law School kicked off a lively discussion in the conservative legal movement with his provocative essay “Beyond Originalism” in The Atlantic. Since then, JWI staff, friends, and Affiliated Scholars have been regular contributors to the ongoing discussion of a “common good constitutionalism.” JWI founder and director Prof. Hadley Arkes offered […] -
Commentary Roundup: JWI on Bostock and Harris Funeral Homes
On June 15, 2020, the worlds of social and legal conservatism were rocked by Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion for Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and its companion case, Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC. JWI staff, friends, and scholars had been watching the case closely and offered their commentary on the outcome. JWI director and founder […] -
“Here’s The Only Path Open to Republicans After Neil Gorsuch’s Betrayal”: Prof. Hadley Arkes in The Federalist
In his latest article for The Federalist, Prof. Hadley Arkes calls on Republicans to look to Abraham Lincoln for a response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC. Following the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, Lincoln and congressional Republicans acknowledged that the Supreme Court had the authority to determine the […] -
“A Workable Substantive Due Process”: Affiliated Scholar Josh Craddock in the Notre Dame Law Review
In an entry for the Notre Dame Law Review, JWI Affiliated Scholar and Fellowship alumnus Josh Craddock ’19 joins with his former boss, Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and law clerk Joshua Dos Santos to address a major source of legal confusion: the Supreme Court’s Due […] -
LISTEN: Prof. Hadley Arkes on the Seth Leibsohn Show
On June 18th, James Wilson Institute founder and director Prof. Hadley Arkes was on the Seth Leibsohn Show hosted on radio by 960thepatriot discussing Prof. Arkes’s The Philosopher in the City, the George Floyd Protests, and the recent Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton County and Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC. Listen below: You can […] -
“We Need to Reject Judicial Supremacy Now More Than Ever”: Garrett Snedeker and Josh Hammer in Newsweek
JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and affiliated scholar Josh Hammer published in Newsweek, arguing that the recent Supreme Court decision, Bostock V. Clayton County Georgia, shows just how mistaken a jurisprudence without natural law can be. They propose a restoration of what they call the “original understanding of constitutionality” as a conversation between all three […] -
“A Better Alternative to State Bankruptcy or Default”: John Baker and Robert Miller in the Wall Street Journal
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, scholars John Baker and Robert Miller discuss the prospect of state bankruptcies during the Covid-19 pandemic. They discuss state sovereignty with respect to the eleventh amendment and argue that allowing states to declare bankruptcy fundamentally contradicts American federalism. States have always struggled with debt and have […] -
“An Oath Upon Oaths”: Prof. Hadley Arkes in The American Mind
James Wilson Institute director Prof. Hadley Arkes responds to a side conversation taking place in the broader discussion over Adrian Vermeule’s “common good constitutionalism” – the debate over one’s oath to the Constitution. Multiple commentators have argued that abandoning originalism leads judges to violate their oaths to uphold the Constitution. Prof. Arkes finds instead that […] -
“Don’t Trade Judicial Supremacy for Executive Supremacy”: Garrett Snedeker in The American Mind
In an essay for a symposium in The American Mind responding to Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule’s call for a “Common Good Constitutionalism,” James Wilson Institute deputy director Garrett Snedeker sympathizes with Vermeule’s call for a “reading of the Constitution that references moral judgements” but cautions against replacing our constitutional deference toward judicial supremacy with […]